Highly identifiable material, method for manufacturing and method for detection

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a highly identifiable material that includes a physical body with an original spectral signature and an artificial tag incorporated on the physical body, which modifies the original spectral signature of the body. The artificial tag is configured to emit passively at least two spectral signatures in response to a source of energy received by the artificial tag. The spectral signatures are signals of interest for imaging technology. The artificial tag spectrally codifies all the information necessary to detect and/or identify a first predetermined feature of the highly identifiable material. The artificial tag may include a spatial pattern, and the spatial pattern may include a predetermined combination of the at least two spectral signatures. Also disclosed herein is a method for manufacturing such a material and a method for identifying such a material.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A highly identifiable material comprising:
 a physical body with an original spectral signature; and 
 an artificial tag incorporated on the physical body, which modifies the original spectral signature of the body, wherein: 
 the artificial tag is configured to emit passively at least two spectral signatures in response to a source of energy received by the artificial tag; 
 the spectral signatures are signals of interest for imaging technology; 
 the artificial tag spectrally codifies all the information necessary to detect and/or identify a first predetermined feature of the highly identifiable material; 
 the artificial tag comprises a spatial pattern, the spatial pattern comprising a predetermined combination of the at least two spectral signatures; 
 the at least two spectral signatures belong to the infrared spectrum and/or the radar spectrum; 
 the highly identifiable material is used in mobility technologies, the mobility technologies comprising vehicles, infrastructure, and/or crash avoidance systems for an optimized vehicle conspicuity; 
 the artificial tag is three-dimensional and remains detectable and/or identifiable when not in a single plane. 
 
     
     
       2. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the spatial pattern comprises a combination of the at least two spectral signatures which is repeated more than two times in the artificial tag, in such a way that the combination codifies the information. 
     
     
       3. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 2 , wherein the information codified by the spatial pattern is defined in terms of proportion of surface or relative abundance of each of the artificial spectral signatures on the artificial tag. 
     
     
       4. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 2 , wherein the information codified by the spatial pattern is defined in terms of the relative position or sequence order of the artificial spectral signatures belonging to that artificial spectral tag. 
     
     
       5. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 2 , wherein the information codified by the spatial pattern is defined in terms of the spatial distribution of the artificial spectral signatures belonging to that artificial tag. 
     
     
       6. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 2 , wherein the information codified by the spatial pattern is defined in terms of the shape of the artificial spectral signatures belonging to that artificial tag. 
     
     
       7. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 2 , wherein the information codified by the spatial pattern is defined in terms of a relationship between the spectral signature values and features of the spatial pattern belonging to that artificial tag. 
     
     
       8. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of at least two spectral signatures belongs to the infrared spectrum, the radar spectrum, and/or the microwave spectrum. 
     
     
       9. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a first of the at least two spectral signatures belongs to the infrared spectrum and at least a second of the at least two spectral signatures belongs to the radar spectrum. 
     
     
       10. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the spectral signatures are suitable for being detected by artificial detectors. 
     
     
       11. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the spectral signatures are suitable for being detected by automated or semi-automated processes. 
     
     
       12. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the spatial pattern is engineered to provide particular information about a feature of the physical body. 
     
     
       13. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the artificial spectral tag comprises a coating, a paint, a sticker or is embedded in the physical body of the material. 
     
     
       14. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the spectral signatures is caused by at least one of a pigment, a resin, nanoparticles, crystal or conductive particles. 
     
     
       15. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the spectral signatures is caused by at least one of a conductive material, oriented conductive particles, metal particles, a radar enhancing material or a radar reflector or is caused by surface features like the texture or roughness of the artificial tag. 
     
     
       16. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the spectral signatures are arranged in different layers in the material. 
     
     
       17. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the highly identifiable material is suitable for use in search and rescue equipment or in emergency materials or in high visibility wear or materials or in occupational wear or materials. 
     
     
       18. The highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , wherein the highly identifiable material is suitable for use in assets management, such as containers, pallets or pooling equipment. 
     
     
       19. Method A method for manufacturing a highly identifiable material according to  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 for a highly identifiable material comprising a physical body with an original spectral signature and an artificial tag incorporated on the physical body, which modifies the original spectral signature of the body, wherein:
 the artificial tag is configured to emit passively at least two spectral signatures in response to a source of energy received by the artificial tag, 
 the spectral signatures are signals of interest for imaging technology, 
 the artificial tag spectrally codifies all the information necessary to detect and/or identify a first predetermined feature of the highly identifiable material, 
 the artificial tag comprises a spatial pattern, the spatial pattern comprising a predetermined combination of the at least two spectral signatures, 
 the at least two spectral signatures belong to the infrared spectrum and/or the radar spectrum, 
 the highly identifiable material is used in mobility technologies, the mobility technologies comprising vehicles, infrastructure, and/or crash avoidance systems for an optimized vehicle conspicuity, 
 the artificial tag is three-dimensional and remains detectable and/or identifiable when not in a single plane: 
 
 defining at least a first feature to be detected; 
 associating a first spectral signature or a first artificial tag to the first feature; and 
 incorporating the first artificial tag or a first artificial tag configured to emit the first spectral signature into a physical body, wherein the first spectral signature belongs to the non-visible spectrum, thus creating a highly identifiable material suitable for use in automated search and rescue equipment or in emergency materials or in high visibility wear or materials or in occupational wear or materials, or in assets management, such as containers, pallets or pooling equipment, or in mobility technologies, such as vehicles and infrastructure and/or crash avoidance systems which use artificial detectors and an optimized vehicle conspicuity. 
 
     
     
       20. The method according to  claim 19 , further comprising:
 choosing a predetermined spectral profile for each of the spectral signatures, wherein each predetermined spectral profile represents one particular feature of the material and/or the physical body, such as a final user, product model or manufacturer. 
 
     
     
       21. The method for detecting a highly identifiable material according to  claim 19 , the method comprising:
 performing a spectral analysis of a region of interest in order to detect the highly identifiable material; and 
 detecting a first spectral signature belonging to the highly identifiable material. 
 
     
     
       22. The method according to  claim 21 , further comprising at least one of:
 measuring the relative abundance of at least two different spectral signatures; 
 detecting the relative position of at least two spectral signatures; 
 detecting certain order and/or sequence of at least two spectral signatures; 
 detecting certain spatial distribution of at least two spectral signatures; 
 detecting certain shapes of at least two spectral signatures; 
 detecting a spatial pattern from the spectral analysis; and 
 detecting a relation between one of the spectral signatures and the area covered by the spectral signature and/or the shape of the spectral signature and/or the spatial distribution of the spectral signature; 
 thus extracting information about the highly identifiable material. 
 
     
     
       23. The method according to  claim 21 , further comprising:
 acquiring metadata related to at least one of the following: 
 geopositioning data and/or time of acquisition of the first spectral signature; and 
 geopositioning data of a sensor device used to detect the first spectral signature. 
 
     
     
       24. The method according to  claim 23 , further comprising:
 linking at least one of the acquired metadata to the spectral analysis. 
 
     
     
       25. The method according to  claim 23 , further comprising:
 organizing the information using one of the acquired metadata as a classifying criterion, such as the geopositioning data of the first spectral signature, so that it is accessible by a user.